Vote for The A-Team!

Those clever people over at the marketing department for the upcoming movie version of The A-Team have come up with a cunning plan worthy of Hannibal himself: they've mocked up a series of UK election-style posters featuring everyone's favourite soldiers of fortune canvassing for your vote.

It's a nice idea, my favourite being Murdock's raving looney version, which will make perfect sense to any fans of the original 1980s programme but probably very little to anyone brought up on repeats of Friends or 27 series of Big Brother. I pity the fools.

Just don't pause for too long thinking about the sense behind these posters, as the whole point of the series/film is that The A-Team are trying to stay out of the limelight and having their faces plastered over billboards might not be the smartest move.

They're also based in the Los Angeles underground, making canvassing visits to UK constituencies rather tricky and whether they'd legally be able to stand for election here is debatable...

A new viral video has also appeared online which is worth a watch.

The A-Team is released in the UK on 30 July.

Getting into deep water with Back to the Future

Over the last few months I’ve sneaked into these pages a few not-so-veiled references to one of my favourite films, Back to the Future, each one vaguely justifiable at the time.

This week, as a new book is released which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the time travel classic, I can finally devote a full column to one of the most entertaining movies ever committed to celluloid.

For those of us who remember being taken to the cinema to see Back to the Future on its original release – it arrived on UK shores on 4 December 1985 and I was nine-years-old at the time – the film was a thing of wonder.

Backed by a PR campaign which employed Huey Lewis and the News to provide the radio-friendly title song, the film was funny, exciting and had a cool car in the shape of the DeLorean, at a time when KITT from Knight Rider was still the best thing on four wheels.

The new BFI Film Classics book, simply titled Back to the Future, is clearly written by fans of the film, but as well as recalling moments such as the DeLorean hitting 88mph and the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, it also touches on some of the political issues addressed in the script, particularly attitudes to teen culture of the 1950s and 1980s and its representation of science, atomic power and time travel.

It also reveals that in 2007, Back to the Future was chosen by the United States Library of Congress to be preserved for all time in the National Film Registry thanks to it being ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically’ significant.

Bizarrely (or perhaps not given the anniversary I mentioned earlier), a new time travel film is about to be released in the UK which references Back to the Future, at least in some respects.

John Cusack, a man who will be forever linked to the 1980s, leads the cast of Hot Tub Time Machine (out 7 May), in which four friends travel back to that decade from the present and are forced to try and preserve the past, though perhaps not in quite the same way as Marty and Doc Brown.

It sounds like a fitting tribute to a movie which shaped many people’s view of science fiction, making it accessible to a mass audience and paving the way for two ingenious sequels.

DVD Round-up, 19 April 2010

It’s a sad fact that sleaze and scandal are something of a mainstay of modern British life. Gone are the days of hushed-up goings-on in nightclubs by politicians and minor celebrities which at one time would only have bothered their consciousnesses – these days they’re likely to be splashed across the front of a tabloid rag and in the next issue of a celebrity magazine.

Of course, not everything makes it as far as the papers, with extortionate fees paid to publicists such as Max Clifford to hush up the seediest stories while others are given a new spin which makes them more palatable to a sleaze-hungry public.

The how’s and why’s of cover-ups and expose’s are at the heart of Chris Atkins' scathing new documentary, Starsuckers (Network), which fearlessly looks behind the lies and half-truths while creating a few of its own for the purposes of the film.

At breakneck speed we’re dragged through the gutter and beyond as Clifford is shown proudly discussing his work while new light is shed upon celeb-led good causes such as Live 8, the truth behind them worthy of a documentary of their own.

Quite what can be done to halt the rot setting in any further is debatable, but it’s important that as many of us watch Starsuckers before that next issue of Celebrity Fakes-R-Us Weekly hits the shops.

Extras include deleted scenes, a making-of and commentary.

Steven Soderbergh is a director with a varied back catalogue of films: the man who brought us the fun Ocean’s 13 is also responsible for the darker Che and the cult The Limey. Now he changes direction again for The Informant! (Warner Home Video), a picture which almost defies categorisation as it introduces us to a world of industrial espionage and personal intrigue in 1990s America.

Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is a successful vice president of an agri-business who does the unthinkable and admits to FBI agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) that his company has been involved in price-fixing.

Going undercover as informer for the FBI, Whitacre becomes involved in ever-more dangerous situations as he tries to expose his bosses, the plot getting further twisted when it turns out he in turn is playing games with the FBI.

The Informant! is never a straightforward watch, with jaunty incidental music at odds with the drama and Whitacre’s mental state often difficult to understand. What’s obvious is that Damon is a skilled comic actor, his confident grasp of the material ensuring that repeated viewings will allow the viewer to better gain an insight into the mind of his character.

The Blu-ray-only director’s commentary is worth checking out, Soderbergh’s yack tracks renowned for their frankness and honesty.

Espionage of a different kind can be found in the new release of 1960s thriller Maroc 7 (Network), featuring US actor Gene Barry as wannabe-Bond Simon Grant making his way from swinging London to dusty Morocco in search of a deadly fashion photographer, played by the less-than-killer Leslie Phillips.

Maroc 7 is fascinating for its kitsch value and the sight of Phillips (who also produced the film) doing more than simply ogling the fairer sex, though it’s safe to say that Barry was never going to beat Connery at his own game as the rather bland Grant. Cyd Charisse adds glamour to the piece and the score is above par.

Extras include three image galleries and a PDF publicity booklet.

Cult movie fans who revere the work of Japanese actor, director and sometime gameshow host “Beat” Takeshi Kitano should look out for the mind-boggling Takeshis’ (Artificial Eye), his new film which looks at the world of a celebrity in an entirely new way.

Whilst Beat Takeshi (Takeshi) is a much-loved film star, convenience store worker Kitano (also Takeshi) is a lookalike actor who is searching for his own way into the industry.

Fate lends a hand by crossing the paths of the pair, both the film’s characters and its viewers pulled into a world of confusion as a result.

Takeshis’ is a film which needs time devoted to it, a wild ride which never takes itself seriously but refuses to turn itself into a joke. Takeshi fans won’t need told twice that it’s a must-see, while newbies might need more convincing and should probably start with one of the actors previous works, such as Zatoichi, before embarking on this.

Finally, step back to Camelot for Eureka’s lavish release on DVD and Blu-ray of 1954’s Sunday television favourite, Prince Valiant, starring Robert Wagner, James Mason and Janet Leigh.

Prince Valiant (Robert Wagner) travels to Camelot to become Sir Gawain’s (Sterling Hayden) squire only to discover treachery in King Arthur’s court – all in glorious Cinemascope!

Though it’s little more than a romp, Henry Hathaway’s film looks and sounds epic, while the sight of James Mason in knightly garb is almost worth the price of the film alone

Rediscovering Laxdale Hall

Local Hero, Gregory's Girl and Trainspotting are probably near the top of most people's lists of best Scottish films, but even the most devout movie buff will struggle to offer up 1953's ultra-rare Laxdale Hall (Panamint) as one of their favourites.

It's the story of a group of Highlanders at odds with the British Government, following disputes surrounding the road which leads from their village to the rest of Scotland. When the men from the ministry arrive in Laxdale, determined to move the villagers out of their remote homes and into a newly built town, the locals decide to fight back.

Thought only to survive in a damaged print not suitable for home video, the recent discovery of a near-pristine copy by a West Lothian film distributor meant that a DVD could be released to an unsuspecting world.

While it may not have the cheeky charm and infinite rewatchability of Whisky Galore or the whimsical magic of Local Hero, Laxdale Hall is still a hugely enjoyable yarn, its success lying in the fact that Scotland looks so good and in its impressive cast list.

Made on location at Applecross in the Highlands and featuring many exterior shots of the area, not only does the film feature appearances from Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales in her first film part, but Local Hero star Fulton Mackay pops up as a young love interest and the late, great Rikki Fulton stars as a Glasgow poacher.

My favourite performance comes from ex-Vital Spark star Roddy McMillan as Willie John Watt, a man who's wife keeps having baby-after-baby while he has visions of his dead father. It's a lovely turn which complements the work of character actors such as Jameson Clark and Ronald Squire, bringing the witty script to life.

Having never heard of Laxdale Hall until a few weeks ago, I'd urge all film fans to search out a copy and keep their fingers crossed for more archive gems turning up sometime soon.

Another film worth looking out for is Edinburgh-set Crying with Laughter, in cinemas from today. It's a drama set in the world of stand-up comedy and features Stephen McCole as a man coming to terms with a past he's tried hard to forget. Though it's not always an easy watch, McCole is a strong lead and the script will make you think long after it ends.

The Expendables meet The A-Team

As I mentioned in today's Evening News, this is the summer that the 80s action heroes, from cinema and TV, return in the shape of Arnie, Sly and Bruce in The Expendables and Hannibal, BA, Faceman and Murdock in The A-Team.

While I can't vouch for the quality (they're not out for a few months yet) they do look like a whole lot of fun...



and...



Anyone else looking forward to these as much as I am?